Warikoo writes about the case of an Iraqi-American bus mechanic who was repeatedly harassed at work because of his ethnicity. Click here to read the story of Mazyn Barash. Warikoo attended the civil rights hearing on Jan. 31, 2008 and wrote about it.
Employee testifies of racial abuse at hearing
January 31, 2008
BY NIRAJ WARIKOO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
A mechanic with SMART testified Thursday at a civil rights hearing that one of his co-workers was racially abused at work because of his ethnicity. And he claimed that supervisors did not move to stop or investigate the abuse.
Joseph Mathis, who works for the metro bus system SMART, said at a hearing in Detroit that one co-worker said racial insults such as "raghead" and "towelhead" in front of a co-worker who was an Iraqi-American.
At other times, the co-worker made violent remarks about Iraqis, said "Where's my camel?" and would sing "I'm Ahab, the A-rab," Mathis said.
Mathis' testimony was part of a hearing Thursday at the Michigan Civil Rights Commission over a complaint filed by Mazyn (Mike) Barash, of Farmington Hills.
After the hearing is over, a hearing officer will make a recommendation on the case to the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, which will then rule on the claim of Barash. The commission has the authority to order compensatory damages.
Barash, a bus mechanic at SMART who is an Iraqi-American Chaldean, said he was repeatedly harassed at work because of his ethnicity and national background. The harassment got worse after the start of the Iraq war.
At one time, the employee said of Barash that "he would like to see him all blown up," Mathis said.
At another time, the worker said of Iraqis:
"I wish they would blow that thing up off the earth already."
When Mathis and others complained, they were called "a bunch of Iraqi lovers," by an employee.
Mathis said that managers ignored his complaints.
"Our complaints we took to management were never dealt with," he said.
The Michigan Department of Civil Rights found sufficient evidence in Barash's complaint to hold a hearing on the case.
Avery Gordon, general counsel for SMART, said he could not comment on the specific case. But he stressed that SMART does not allow discrimination and takes seriously any allegations of bias.
"We don't tolerate discriminatory behavior," Gordon said. "We have policies and procedures in place that prohibit discriminatory behavior should it occur."
Gordon said that SMART has an internal program that allows SMART employees to report allegations of abuse anonymously through a phone number.
Contact NIRAJ WARIKOO at warikoo@freepress.com
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